The best and worst of the DNC

You're running on four hours of sleep. Your brain is on overload. You're star struck. You're missing your loved ones at home. And then you see this....  I didn't just tear up, I cried!

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm electrified the arena with her convention speech!  She was brilliant and a little zany! The applause, cheering, shouting, and chanting "USA!" was one of the most inspirational rally cries I've ever witnessed!!  Please take seven minutes and watch her speech. I don't think most viewers saw her since she was not in a prime time slot, but she should have been!

This was another highlight. Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland delivered the best line at the convention "If Mitt Romney were Santa Clause he'd fire the reindeer and out source the elves!"

Think a Romney/Ryan ticket has a woman's best interests at heart? Watch Lillie Ledbetters speech. You can view it here.  Watch Cecile Richards speech. You can view it here.

The other big speeches, in case you missed them, are worth a listen too. President Obama knocked it out of the park. I thought Michelle was amazing! Julian Castro was inspiring!  Senator John Kerry whooped some serious Romney ass! But, for me, the best speech was delivered by Bill Cllinton. He made an exceptional case on why our President needs four more years!  When it comes to the economy and deficits his simple word of "arithmetic" really hit home with me. His simple yet eloquent pitch to American voters is something that I think will stick in everyone's mind, and I truly believe he has impacted this election!!

And now for the whack-a-doodle portion of the DNC.  Kit and I had just listened to Michelle Obama at the HRC/Victory Fund luncheon, stepped outside of the Marriott and ran into these winners!

thanks to Matt Baker for the pic!

You know... these kinds of "folks" used to bother me, but they really don't any more. You can't fix stupid!  It's like when I'm lobbying, there are certain legislators I don't even bother talking to, it doesn't matter what you say to them.... THEY DON'T GET IT!!

The anti-abortion protesters were there as well. They were right out side the convention center with  giant eight foot billboards, holding pictures of dead babies. I won't post any pics of them. They were vile.

My friend Ana said she was walking by them and shook her head in disgust.  The protester said "What? Don't like looking at dead babies?" Ana said, "No, I don't like looking at your face!" Protester responds, "Oh, that's right your a Democrat, you like looking at dead babies!"  Ana say's "Ya, I had one for breakfast."

Give me a break! No one like abortions!! My legislative friend Ken said, "When I get asked about it I explain it this way. Suppose you have that gut wrenching discussion with your 15 or 16 year old daughter and you sit down at the dinner table to make some very serious decisions.... who do you want making that decision? Me as a lawmaker? Or you as a family?"

So that's my DNC experience! I hope you enjoyed sharing my journey!  A few more pics from my friends Matt Baker, Billy Montgomery, Kate Wright and Kit Young.

Me and the WY Delegation with Cecile Richards

Kate, Kit, me and Matt with Barney Frank at the Stonewall Democrats Reception.

LGBT Caucuses

The cool table at the Stonewall Democrats Reception

me sitting on the arena floor 

Ken, Kate, and I at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Reception and John Legend Concert.

Ken, Kit, and I Fired Up!!

LGBT at the DNC

Whoa! That's a ton of letters! So what was it like to be a gay man at the DNC? Nothing short of phenomenal!

First this convention was historic.  There were 486 openly gay delegates in attendance or roughly 8% of the entire delegation.  Every state in the union had at least one LGBT delegate. (Wyoming had three.)  As Jerame Davis of National Stonewall Democrats said "We've been an underrepresented demographic in politics for a long time.  Finally seeing us appropriately represented is just a thrill."

This is me and Ana with Colorado Governor Hickenlooper.  I told him that I live in WY and my partner lived in CO and we were both crushed when the civil unions bill died in CO this year.  He grabbed my hand, looked me in the eye and said, "Oh don't you worry! I promise we will get that taken care of next year!"  Wow!! What a moment!

One of the biggest highlights for me was the LGBT caucuses.  These were meetings/strategy sessions/ motivational type get togethers that were held on Tuesday and Thursday from 12-2 p.m. So who did they get to address this group you ask?  Well here are a handful of the fine politicians that spoke to us;

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.  Talked about how the OFA will impact the LGBT community with no lifetime caps of coverage, no pre-existing condition clauses, premiums going to actual health care rather than insurance company profits, and many other benefits.

Wisconsin Senate Candidate Tammy Baldwin.  Who if elected will be the first openly gay United States Senator

 Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker.  Who said all the politicians should be in the audience and the audience should be on stage teaching the politicians.  Kit and I had a chance to visit with him at the arena where he thanked us for all we do and encouraged us to be louder, stronger, and more persistent than ever before.

 Sorry for the blurry picture but this is Dr. Jill Biden as in the Second Lady.  Who also talked about education in the LGBT community and passing anti-bullying laws to protect students.

Minnesota Senator Al Franken. Who spent most of his time talking about the repeal of Don't Ask Dont Tell and reminisced about his days as an entertainer. Traveling the Middle East back when people could be kicked out the military for something as trivial as their sexual orientation.

Massachusetts Senator Barney Frank who said, even though the tide is turning and we are seeing victories, we must not give up. "The time to step up the attack is when the enemy is weak."  Let me tell you this is one intense, serious, smart, and grouchy dude!

 Senior Advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett talked about how much Obama has done for the LGBT community including repealing DADT, refusal to defend DOMA, expanding hate crimes laws to include sexual orientation and gender, and came out in support of marriage equality.







So this is just a handful of the celebrity power we had at our caucus! I went through the full gamut of emotions. I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was proud. My main take away.... don't stop fighting!! These fine politicians have our back but the real work is done on the grass roots level!

And the icing on the cake?? Wednesday I went to an HRC / Victory Fund luncheon and the key note speech was delivered by.... wait for it.... Michelle Obama!!

She is an amazing, caring, kind, compassionate woman who laid out what was at stake in this election.  "If you don't live in a battle ground state... get to one!" She pointed out how a Romeny/Ryan ticket would roll the clock back at least 20 years on the progress that has been made over the last four years.

DADT will be back, DOMA will once again be defended in federal courts, and marriage equality.. forget about it!  (that's me paraphrasing but you get the idea.) She very effectively conveyed the importance of this election!

This is me with HRC President Chad Griffin

Overall I couldn't be happier with the results of this convention, and what it means to me as a gay man to have The President and First Lady mention multiple times in their keynote speeches how they firmly stand behind people being allowed to "marry who they love!"  The Democratic Platform is now complete with a full marriage equality plank and I have never been more FIRED UP and READY TO ROLL than I am right now!!

Jeran

The DNC... Oh the DNC!

I've just returned for Charlotte, NC where I was fortunate enough to represent Wyoming as a delegate for the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

So what was it like? What were my takeaways? Did I learn anything? How was the LGBT community represented? Highlights? Concerns?  Over this next week I will post a series of blog posts covering all of these experiences.

First, I will let you know that I am fired up!! Wow! This was truly a life changing experience. I expected to have fun. I knew I would be busy but I didn't know what an impact it would have on my life and drive home just how important this election is.

So here's how the convention worked. Events started at 8 a.m. most days and wrapped up at 2 a.m. That's a long day! I found I was averaging four or five hours of sleep per night. We were given a welcome/gift bag when we arrived. One of the gifts was a pedometer. I wore mine Wednesday and took a little over 30,000 steps. That equates to walking almost 15 miles!

The events and meetings were held all over the metro are of Charlotte. Most receptions were at uptown restaurants, pubs, or hotels. The caucuses and workshops were held at the convention center and the main platform stage, where all the big speeches were given, was at the AOL Time Warner Arena.

We arrived on Sunday and I thought this was going to a quiet night to relax, plan, and gear up for the convention. Wrong! Upon arrival we were whisked of to a reception at the Renaissance Hotel for a pre-convention reception with a handful of other states.  The highlight.... I got this picture

This is me and WY delegates Kate Wright and Kit Young with the Chair of the National Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  She is an amazing woman! She can frequently be seen making the rounds on the Sunday morning political shows; pleading the Democrats case on most issues with smart, articulate, and actual fact based opinions on how to move this country forward.

I think Charlotte knocked the cover off the ball. Their city is beautiful! Their airport is clean, bright, efficient, and cheerful. The uptown area is clean, plush, and full off beautiful flowers, trees, and shrubs. I would not hesitate to visit Charlotte again as a tourist.

I could not have attended this convention with a better group of folks that was the Wyoming delegation. They were a blast!! Such a smart and diverse group! I'm proud to have been part of a delegation that included African Americans, Latino Americans, Gay Americans, and equal representation between men and women! I was honored to be included with such a fine group of Wyoming citizens!

Tomorrow we'll dig into the convention. I want to talk about what it meant to be a gay man at this historic convention.

Jeran